How can an object and its materiality be defined? Which are the relationships and/or bonds that link individuals to objects? Which are meanings and values that should be considered in an object that is stripped from its context? How can it be described, replaced and represented in its natural environment (if it exists)? Are there limits to said representations? For the next issue, Forma. Revista d'Estudis Comparatius joins the project put forward by the collective “Jeune chercheurs de TELEMMe” for the preparation of their annual study conferences about the "object" in the Humanities and the Social Sciences.

Annonce

Presentation

Since the 80s, the “material turn” has become increasingly important in the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities as a result of different epistemological turns. Amidst the wide variety of subjects that have been put forward, one can highlight the interest in material culture, the rise of “visual studies” or even the diverse reflections on the concept of “semiophore”. The results of such investigations have shown the need to go beyond the apparent banality of everyday objects and to reconsider the traditional limits that separate the subject and the object. This way it is possible to consider objects as social actors or, on the contrary, to further reify and objectify subjects. Parting from these investigations, three approaches are suggested here that stimulate — rather than limit — the reflections stemming from this problem:

How can an object and its materiality be defined? According to more concrete approaches, the object and the words to which it is associated (things, goods or materiality, for example) have a variety of natures, uses and forms.

Which are the relationships and/or bonds that link individuals to objects? The subject and the object are not fix entities; their interactions allow us to nuance the traditional division between both categories.

Which are meanings and values that should be considered in an object that is stripped from its context? How can it be described, replaced and represented in its natural environment (if it exists)? Are there limits to said representations?

For this occasion, Forma joins the project put forward by the collective “Jeune chercheurs de TELEMMe” for the preparation of their annual study conferences (the minutes of all of the preparatory workshops can be accessed by clicking on this link and the cfp of the conference can be viewed by clicking here).

The editorial committee recognizes the value of this matter in the present academic context and has therefore joined this initiative. It should also be noted that the methodological perspective and the transversal reflection that this subject requires is perfectly adapted to the editorial lines of this journal.

It is important to clarify that Forma, Revista d’Estudis Comparatius, has no ties to the organization of this event or to the screening process of its participants. Any researcher that wishes to send its articles may or may not intervene in these conferences. Their participation or non-participation will not be taken into account in any way nor will it constitute a hindrance of any kind.

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As specified in the Editorial Policy tab on the web page, all of the submissions undergo a double-blind peer review process by external readers. The articles must be submitted to our e-mail: revista.forma@upf.edu along with a declaration of authorship that can be downloaded on our webpage. The file with the article should not contain the author’s name or affiliation, although this information should be provided in the declaration of authorship. For more information, please read our Author Guidelines.